Fear Or Love (you Decide)

[Ocean breeze]

for some of us the world is not quite so black and white. it must be nice to live in a place where the lines are delineated so clearly between love or fear or evil or good. but i like to think that truth lies somewhere in between. i always wondered how people could treat our troops poorly, but i suppose it falls in line with this kind of rigid view of the world.

i'm not christian, but this is a pretty good one. ​

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." Jesus​

"peace is not the absence of war" - baruch spinoza​

"an appeasaer is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last." winston churchill​

i think these are guys who know what they're talking about.

recently i saw a photo on this site of a float that had a "make love not war" sign on it. i thought it was kind of sad.

it's sad because it was the kind of simplistic statement that makes judgement without thought or compassion.

it implies that if you are engaged in war, you somehow are in opposition of a loving act. or that the two are exclusive of each other.

it's sad because it is in itself an act of conflict instead of positive action which is always a negative drain on the world and humanity. it's the kind of sactimonious approach that i hope leaves this earth with the self-absorbed generation that spawned it.

to suggest that love is not equated with defense of life or that it is merely equated with your version of "peace" is simply not accurate.

the nazis lived in peace with each other and with their neighbors who didn't fight them. the jews, homosexuals, gypsies and disabled people they murdered might argue with you that this was not a "peaceful" existence for them. but perspective requires compassion.

to suggest that people deny their biological drive to survive is not peaceful. to suggest that if they defend themselves they are living in fear, is inaccurate.

it takes a tremendous amount of courage to truly be there for your fellow human beings and to even love them so much as to sacrifice your own life to protect them or defend them. it is a truly cowardly act to do nothing in the world but comment or criticize. i would otherwise say nothing unless i had done something to support our troops, their families and the victims of war.

those who simply engage in spouting slogans are not bringing peace into the world but are living fearfully in their own little cocoons where they do not allow any disagreement or dissention or take the time to reach out in positive action.

make care packages not posters.

Thanks, Raven, for sharing some very worthy thoughts from another point of view.

Some wars are unavoidable, but most often they represent the failure of governments in diplomacy. Wars are not the fault of the majority of soldiers, on either side. Soldiers are defending homeland, tyranny, their families & friends, and each other. They are victims & heroes, motivated by the courage to fight despite their fear, for the love of all that matters most to them. And too often, civilians are caught in the middle, or are deliberately attacked by terrorists. War is hell, & misguided wars should be prevented for everyone's sake, including of course, our troops.

Peace on Earth should be the goal of all humanity. Otherwise, with the spread of more & more dangerous weapons of war & mass destruction, civilization is doomed. We have to fight for the peace-loving future of all humanity -- fight not so much with weapons, but with the power of truth & love. You are already doing that for our freedom-loving country. Please expand your thoughtfully loving point of view, to include all humanity & the larger goal, through movements & diplomacy, of peace on Earth.

Thanks again for your thoughtful sharing.

 

[Bob]

for some of us the world is not quite so black and white. it must be nice to live in a place where the lines are delineated so clearly between love or fear or evil or good. but i like to think that truth lies somewhere in between. i always wondered how people could treat our troops poorly, but i suppose it falls in line with this kind of rigid view of the world.

i'm not christian, but this is a pretty good one.
"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." Jesus

"peace is not the absence of war" - baruch spinoza

"an appeasaer is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last." winston churchill
​

i think these are guys who know what they're talking about.

recently i saw a photo on this site of a float that had a "make love not war" sign on it. i thought it was kind of sad.

it's sad because it was the kind of simplistic statement that makes judgement without thought or compassion.

it implies that if you are engaged in war, you somehow are in opposition of a loving act. or that the two are exclusive of each other.

it's sad because it is in itself an act of conflict instead of positive action which is always a negative drain on the world and humanity. it's the kind of sactimonious approach that i hope leaves this earth with the self-absorbed generation that spawned it.

to suggest that love is not equated with defense of life or that it is merely equated with your version of "peace" is simply not accurate.

the nazis lived in peace with each other and with their neighbors who didn't fight them. the jews, homosexuals, gypsies and disabled people they murdered might argue with you that this was not a "peaceful" existence for them. but perspective requires compassion.

to suggest that people deny their biological drive to survive is not peaceful. to suggest that if they defend themselves they are living in fear, is inaccurate.

it takes a tremendous amount of courage to truly be there for your fellow human beings and to even love them so much as to sacrifice your own life to protect them or defend them. it is a truly cowardly act to do nothing in the world but comment or criticize. i would otherwise say nothing unless i had done something to support our troops, their families and the victims of war.

those who simply engage in spouting slogans are not bringing peace into the world but are living fearfully in their own little cocoons where they do not allow any disagreement or dissention or take the time to reach out in positive action.

make care packages not posters.

You're again confusing criticizing an unnecessary war with patriotism. It's those who did not believe what was told by our leaders initially who will protect our troops more than those in power now. Can the self righteous conservatives among us ever have the strength to admit the folly of this massive clusterama. I hope at some point it will hit everyone like a ton of bricks. Imagine our government giving 20-50k for an education, instead of enticing our young men and women to watch over the chaos we've made. Let's all make a huge list of everyone whose country needs to be invaded, with all the oppressors who need to be put to justice. It should be a nice, long, juicy list. Now fold up that list, put it in your mouth, and see how foul that idea really tastes.

 

[raven]

You're again confusing criticizing an unnecessary war with patriotism. It's those who did not believe what was told by our leaders initially who will protect our troops more than those in power now. Can the self righteous conservatives among us ever have the strength to admit the folly of this massive clusterama. I hope at some point it will hit everyone like a ton of bricks. Imagine our government giving 20-50k for an education, instead of enticing our young men and women to watch over the chaos we've made. Let's all make a huge list of everyone whose country needs to be invaded, with all the oppressors who need to be put to justice. It should be a nice, long, juicy list. Now fold up that list, put it in your mouth, and see how foul that idea really tastes.

you are once again confusing your ideology with logic.

read my post more thoroghly and you will see it's not a defense of any war, but an attack on unintelligent people who confuse "peace activisim" with peace and suggest that defense is an act of war an in complete opposition to love.

i can see from your post though that you are motivated by rage and violence which is why i find it amusing that you label your ideology peaceful and yet you choose such a violent, abusive approach to promoting it.

that kind of hypocrisy is just what i was talking about.
how sad for you. and your kind.

logic and truth is on my side and that side will stand behind our troops what's funny is that people like you hate bush, but you are exactly like him an elitist who is abandoning our troops and spouting your hate-filled propaganda.

your abusive nature says everything i need to know about your ideology.

 

[raven]

now in a COMPLETELY unrelated post to what i was previously discussing - i do support the war.

i don't like how it was done or the fact that the civilian leadership ignored the people AND the military on recommendations, but i do support the action based on my belief it was immoral for russia and france to commit genocide with the aid of the UN to facilitate their oil deals.

AND even if i didn't support it, i'm not such a vile self-satisfied scumbag, that i would even suggest to anyone serving this country or their families' that i didn't.

but that requires feeling an obligation and compassion for others who share the responsibility of community.

seeing as you're somebody who spends his life making violent abusive comments about how they would physically attack somebody who disagrees with their political opinions..you wouldn't understand anything about service or respect for others, respect for democracy or logic..you really do nothing to rid the south of its stereotype!

 

[raven]

Thanks, Raven, for sharing some very worthy thoughts from another point of view.

Some wars are unavoidable, but most often they represent the failure of governments in diplomacy. Wars are not the fault of the majority of soldiers, on either side. Soldiers are defending homeland, tyranny, their families & friends, and each other. They are victims & heroes, motivated by the courage to fight despite their fear, for the love of all that matters most to them. And too often, civilians are caught in the middle, or are deliberately attacked by terrorists. War is hell, & misguided wars should be prevented for everyone's sake, including of course, our troops.

Peace on Earth should be the goal of all humanity. Otherwise, with the spread of more & more dangerous weapons of war & mass destruction, civilization is doomed. We have to fight for the peace-loving future of all humanity -- fight not so much with weapons, but with the power of truth & love. You are already doing that for our freedom-loving country. Please expand your thoughtfully loving point of view, to include all humanity & the larger goal, through movements & diplomacy, of peace on Earth.

Thanks again for your thoughtful sharing.

peace is a very important word and also an important concept.
i am concerned about how people use it to judge and oppress others.
to suggest that those who make war do not love, is the most cruel propaganda.
it's often difficult for people to open their eyes enough to think of their neighbors as well as they think of those half way around the world, but if we can achieve that, that is the true path to peace.

 

[6thGen]

YouTube - Historical Campaign Ad: Bear (Reagan-Bush '84)

 

[Ocean breeze]

Thanks, Raven, for sharing some very worthy thoughts from another point of view.

Some wars are unavoidable, but most often they represent the failure of governments in diplomacy. Wars are not the fault of the majority of soldiers, on either side. Soldiers are defending homeland, tyranny, their families & friends, and each other. They are victims & heroes, motivated by the courage to fight despite their fear, for the love of all that matters most to them. And too often, civilians are caught in the middle, or are deliberately attacked by terrorists. War is hell, & misguided wars should be prevented for everyone's sake, including of course, our troops.

Peace on Earth should be the goal of all humanity. Otherwise, with the spread of more & more dangerous weapons of war & mass destruction, civilization is doomed. We have to fight for the peace-loving future of all humanity -- fight not so much with weapons, but with the power of truth & love. You are already doing that for our freedom-loving country. Please expand your thoughtfully loving point of view, to include all humanity & the larger goal, through movements & diplomacy, of peace on Earth.

Thanks again for your thoughtful sharing.

Correction: [The word, tyranny, was misplaced. I meant to say:] Soldiers are fighting tyranny or aggression or other attacks (on either side), and defending homeland, their family & friends, and each other. ...

On further discussion, we all need to find our common ground. We share some beautiful values. Let's not fight each other, but destructive attitudes. That's exactly what governments need to do. Let's do it here.

"As the end, so the means." -- Mahatma Gandhi

 

[LightWorker]

I am speaking from the heart. I do not want to hurt anyone and if you knew me you would know this to be true. I believe some people have a hard time in life (I have). I was born in Kentucky, Fort Campbell to be exact. My dad was in the 101st Screaming Eagles and was in Vietnam. I was lucky he came home to my family.Most of my friends lost their Dads.It took some time for my father to get over the pain of that war ,but he is now the most loving man I have ever know. I understand war and I do not like it, I think of all the men and woman that will not be on this earth, and have families because most of the soldiers now are just so young. I hope that anyone reading this, will join us for the upcoming events. I will post the times and places in the near future. History can show us one thing over and over ,maybe if enough loving people are ready to change things PEACE can happen.

 

[LightWorker]

"Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not." Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

[Ocean breeze]

Beautiful. Thanks for sharing, LightWorker.

"Only that day dawns to which we are awake. ... There is more day to dawn." -- Thoreau

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God." -- Jesus of Nazareth